What a Job

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” ~Genesis 2:15

Last week we thought about the value of pausing to enjoy the beauty of God’s good creation. We are encouraged by Scripture to “stop and smell the roses,” such as it were. God made all these things for His glory and for our enjoyment; thus, we ought to take in the view and give thanks to God for such wonders. This week I’d like to spend a few moments considering the opposite of pausing, which is working.

Have you realized that work is part of Adam’s pre-fall experience? It was God’s intention not only to give Adam and Eve a beautiful garden in which to live, but for that Garden to receive care and nurture through the labor of Adam’s hands. He was put in the Garden to “work it and keep it.” He tilled the ground, albeit without sweat on his brow or blisters on his hands — those were the result of the Fall (Genesis 3:17-19); yet work was a part of his perfect life in the Garden of Eden.

Work, therefore, is a great thing! Of course, this side of the fall it’s often marked by frustration, fatigue, and futility. Yet it remains one of the ways we express our gratitude to God for life, for His creation, and for the responsibility of caring for the things He has made. Too often we think of work as a distraction from fun, rest, and life. But, in fact, it’s one of the means by which God intends for us enjoy life to the fullest. It is through this exercise of dominion over the spheres in which God has placed us that we reflect His image, as He Himself is the “First Worker.” 

Jesus often referred to His Messianic ministry as “work” given to Him by the Father. In John’s Gospel He repeats this theme: “My Father is working until now, and I am working”  (John 5:17); “For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me” (John 5:36); “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Jesus was a worker, doing the work the Father gave Him to accomplish. Likewise, He sends us into the world as Christian workers, calling His disciples fishers of men (Mark 1:17), laborers for the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38), and feeders of sheep (John 21:17).

All of this is to say: we are called to work, which reflects the ministry of our Savior who worked, which images the character of God who worked in the beginning and is working even now. When we work, we are doing a good thing; a worshipful thing; a gratitude thing; a thing from which God gets glory in the lives of His people. Pause to enjoy the view, of course, but then get back to work. It’s very good. And because we belong to Him, our labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Pastor